The Duke Blue Devils beat the Rhode
Duke knew that anything was possible in the NCAA tournament, and that it could be beaten at any time no matter the team.
Just ask the top overall seed Virginia, which lost to 16th seeded UMBC on Friday night.
In the Blue Devils’ second round tournament game against No. 7 seed Rhode Island, they made sure that didn’t happen to them.
Led by a balanced effort from its starters, Duke got out to an early 17-point halftime lead on Rhode Island. All of Duke’s starters scored in double figures and it beat the Rams 87-62. With its latest win, the first one against No. 15 seed Iona, second seeded Duke (28-7) will advance to the Sweet 16 in the Midwest Region in Omaha, Neb.
Duke freshman forward Marvin Bagley III led all scorers finished with 22 points. And freshman guard Gary Trent Jr. had 18 points, five rebounds and four assists.
URI, which has five seniors, had hoped to upset Duke. The Rams’ head coach Dan Hurley, former Duke guard Bob Hurley’s brother, said the plan was to knock down open 3’s in Duke’s zone. But its 3-pointers weren’t falling until late in the second half, when the lead was too big to come back from.
Duke’s biggest advantage was in the post. The Ram’s tallest starter was 6-8 and the Blue Devils took advantage of it early on by feeding Bagley and freshman forward Wendell Carter Jr. Carter had 13 points and six rebounds.
The Blue Devils also knocked down its 3-pointers, going 10-for-21 from behind the arc.
Rhode Island took a 7-2 lead early in the game. Duke had turned the ball over four times in the first five minutes and 10 seconds of the game.
But the Blue Devils went on an 18-3 run with a little less than seven minutes left in the first half to go up by 17 points.
In the second half, Rhode Island battled but still had no answer for Duke’s offense, which is ranked No. 3 in the country, according to kenpom.com, in offensive efficiency.
Duke led by as many as 29 points in the second half.
Duke senior guard Grayson Allen finished with 10 points and freshman guard Trevon Duval added 11 points and seven assists.
Duke last made it to the Sweet 16 in 2016. It will play the winner of No. 3 seeded Michigan State and No. 11 seeded Syracuse.
